The Son of Hades
by The Dragon Slayers
Summary: It's hard being the son of Hades. It's even harder being a demi-god when Voldemort and his minions were on their campaign of terror. Meet Orion, who seems to have the worst luck ever. AU story.
1. Prologue

**A/N: 'Sup everyone! Kee and Tee here. This is going to be one of the first stories the two of us will be co-authoring in, so expect the updates to be pretty slow. In case you are wondering who these awesome sounding Kee and Tee are, check out our profile page. We very recently updated it, and there are some pretty cool stuff up there.**

 **Disclaimer: We own nothing you recognise and everything you don't.**

 **Now on with the story…**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Whitefield was never a cheerful town.

Rows and rows of the same, grey houses with tiny patch of grass in front of it. Everyone would be out in their same, grey clothes, with their dark umbrellas on their way to the bleak factories in the distance. During winters, the town seemed to be deserted, and all the open spaces were always covered in a sheet of fresh snow, hence its name. At least in the mornings people were about. At night, the town would go into hideaway. Except for that one night, when one woman seemed to brave the cold and bitterness.

She went to the local graveyard.

Were you to go past the looming, black gates that creak ominously when swung open, and walked passed the first bunch of gravestones, you would see her there. Were you to keep following the path, grassy and filled with gnarling roots from the surrounding trees, you would see the woman. A woman hard at work digging and digging.

But the ground was frozen solid.

The woman persevered. She wore a black cloak, its end sagging against the ground. Her boots kept her feet warm, black as coal, and glittering with polish. Her large, blue eyes seemed to be solely focused on the small dent at the base of a statue. Her brown hair was carefully braided and tucked away below her cloak, away from sight.

Her name was Katherine. Katherine Day.

If you were to watch her closely, you would see the beads of sweat on her forehead. You could see the stiff way she stood, and the awkward way she held the shovel, implying that she wasn't used to manual labor. Beside her lay a box. Nothing too fancy, a box made of polished wood. Nothing adorned it, just a name. Marcus Ostrowski.

The woman finally lost her patience and dropped the shovel with a sigh of frustration. She cast a furtive glance at her surroundings, before drawing a stick out of her pocket. If you looked carefully, you would see it was engraved with ancient runic symbols, and a simple handle at one end. She carefully pointed it at the base of the statue.

"Defodio" she whispered.

The soil shifted and deepened. But the woman didn't seem satisfied yet.

"Defodio" she whispered once again. The hole got even deeper, but it still remained about two inches deep.

Quite suddenly, the air around her seemed to drop several degrees, as though a dementor had entered the area. She spun around, trying to see if anyone was hiding in the thicket of trees, before casting a warming charm on herself. A sudden voice behind her made her jump and almost drop her wand from shock.

"Would you like some help with that?"

She turned around so fast, that her neck clicked painfully. A man seemed to materialize from the shadows. She stared at him with curiosity; he wasn't there a second ago. His pale, fluorescent skin glowed in the moonlight, his hair long and dark and just a tad greasy. He was tall and seemed to loom over her own six feet. His eyes… they were the best bit about him. Obsidian in colour, they seemed to reflect both a genius and a madman, and they shone with a different type of gentleness. Two large dogs appeared next to him, sniffing his feet. Their large red eyes shone in the darkness. Their coat was matted and their faces pulled into snarls. They eyed Katherine with anger, snarling and pacing the ground around their master. She could tell that they were restraining themselves from jumping onto her and tearing her face off. They were obedient, but dangerous.

"Yeah, sure. What can you do?"

She asked a simple question not expecting much of a reply, perhaps a ' _maybe I can help you dig'_ but instead the man just snapped his fingers. The hole in the ground suddenly started getting deeper and deeper. Her jaw dropped from shock. Who _was_ this man? He was _obviously_ a wizard too...but wandless magic? They were supposed to be ridiculously difficult, but this man just clicked his fingers with an air of confidence and indifference, as though he had been doing this his whole life.

"Stop" she commanded him.

The man snapped his fingers once again and the soil stopped dropping away. She dropped to her knees and picked up the box, all while keeping an eye on the man. She manually dropped the box into the hole, she was still wary about using her wand, just in case this man was not a wizard. A sniffle escaped her, as the box touched the end of the hole. The man noticed her tears.

"What is in the box?" He asked her curiously.

"Just…just something I want to forget" she replied, before standing up and dusting her hands.

"So...um, thanks about that. Would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what you just saw." She told him, eyeing his two dogs carefully. They looked like they had just spotted dinner. Which consisted mainly of her.

The man seemed to sense her nervousness because he waved his hand. The two dogs stood up straight and bounded away towards the shadows. It almost seemed as though they blended into the shadows, since they seemed to have completely vanished.

Katherine's eyes widened at this second sight of magic. "Um...I'm Katherine. Katherine Day." she said, extending an arm towards the man.

"Nice to meet you Katherine. I am Hades."

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "As in the Greek God of the Underworld? Wow, your parents must have been really into Greek Mythology, eh?"

Hades cocked his head to one side, a small smile playing on his face. "Of a sort," he replied, without taking his eyes off her.

"Well _Hades,_ " she started, putting special emphasis on his name as though she didn't believe it, "Why don't you come over to my house for a cup of tea? You know, as a sort of 'thank you' thing for helping me out,"

Hades smiled properly now. "I would love to."

He clicked his finger again, and a mound of dirt covered up the hole again. Katherine started walking back, towards the gates of the cemetery, with Hades walking beside her.

 _I must be going mad,_ she thought to herself, _I just invited a guy I literally just met at a graveyard over for tea._

* * *

"Hello Sunshine," Hades greeted her with a little kiss on her lips. It was a small one, not deep, but it still caused a little shiver to travel down her back.

"Hi."

She could not meet his eyes. She felt incredibly nervous...unsure about how he would react. At the best, he would be overjoyed and want to stay. At the worst, he would leave her. Forever. And it would hurt too much if he did, the last few months had been the best months of her life.

"Kathy?" he asked softly. She had almost forgotten that he was right in front of him. He was staring at her in concern and slight amusement. Right. It was time to tell him. She took a deep breath.

"I've something to tell you…"

Hades' eyebrows furrowed as his face rearranged into a frown. "You do?"

"I'm pregnant."

She really did not know what she was expecting, perhaps that he would pick her up and twirl her around with happiness. Perhaps he would shout at her and say this was all her fault and then storm out of the house. But he just stared at her for a minute. Two minutes.

"Are you sure?" he finally asked.

"Yes"

Hades collapsed onto the sofa and buried his head in his hands. Katherine's heart sank. Of course he would not be happy, they weren't even married. Her vision went blurry and she realized that she had tears in her eyes.

"Oh Gods, what have I done? What have I done?" A muffled voice came up from behind the hands.

"I...I'm sorry Hades. You can leave if you want to. You have a choice, but I don't. I'm really sorry," Kathy was able to say between sobs.

Her voice seemed to make Hades look up. "But that _is_ the thing, Kathy. I do not have a choice. I need to leave.

"Wha...what do you mean?"

Hades took a deep breath and forced himself to look her in the eye. "The thing is...I...I'm not exactly human, Kath. I...the Greek Gods, well, they are all real."

Katherine looked at him for a long minute- it might have been days or months -and burst out laughing.

"Yeah, right. You really had me there for a second, I was terrified."

"It's not a joke! Listen! It is true!" Hades protested, his face growing more and more frustrated.

"Sure, sure. Pull out the next one," she said, still smiling.

"Look, Kathy. You...you're a smart woman. Have you not seen me dig by just the click of my fingers? Seen me go invisible? Seen me have a conversation with empty air? And doing all this _without_ a wand? I am the god of the Underworld, Kathy. I do not belong truly in the normal world."

Kathy's eyes filled with horror and tears, and her hand flew to her mouth as she figured it out. For a long time they stared at each other, unblinking, unmoving.

"So...so you've been lying to me all this while?" She finally asked in a small voice.

"I...I...no! I didn't have a choice! I couldn't -"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE" she finally burst out, levelling a scorching glare towards him. Hades quailed under her furious expression. "YOU HAD A BLOODY CHOICE! I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING...I BROKE THE STATUE OF SECRECY AND TOLD YOU ABOUT THE WIZARDING WORLD! I BROKE THE DAMN LAW, FOR GOD'S SAKE! AND NOW YOU HAVE BEEN LYING TO ME? ABOUT SOMETHING AS BIG AS THIS?"

She dropped to her knees after shouting herself hoarse and began to sob. Hades sat down next to her and hesitantly put his hand and her shoulder.

"I...I'm really sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. But you have to listen to what I have to say, it's really important..."

"When...when the baby is born...he will also have powers. Powers like me. But it comes at a price, Kathy, he will be hunted. Monsters, thousands of them will come after him, that's how it has been for years,"

Kathy slowly looked up to meet his eyes, a cold rage burning through her. "So...my child will never be safe? He will forever have to be chased and live in fear? Like some sort of a...a...an animal?"

"There is one place where he will be safe from them. It's a camp, a camp for others just like him or her. They will be taught there, how to survive and use their powers. When he or she turns thirteen, they need to be taken there. A satyr will come to him, as a sort of protector."

For a long time, neither of them spoke or moved, unwilling to break eye contact. Kathy was too overwhelmed with everything to even ask what the heck a satyr was. The rage was still moving through her, urging her to punch Hades in the face. Or to break a plate over his head.

"Get out."

Hades's eyebrows rose in surprise at this direct command. "What?"

"You come here, as though you own this place, lie to me, cheat on me with your _wife_ back in the Underworld, and then leave me here when I need you the most. And now you tell me that my child will never be happy, always being hunted like some escaped criminal. Get out of my house right now, or I swear I will hex you so badly that you will never be able to sit on your throne of bones or whatever again."

"Please, Kathy, don't be like this." He took her hands in his. "I love you...I only want what is best…I-"

Kathy's furious expression softened slightly, but she still yanked her hands out of his grip. "This is not something you would do to someone you love," she told him, coldly. "Get out of my house."

Hades looked at her sadly one last time, before he walked backwards into the shadows and disappeared. The sudden silence sounded more horrible than her screaming, and Kathy sank into the chair Hades had just vacated.

 _What on earth was happening in her life?_

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	2. Monsters and Madness

**A/N: This is a pretty long chapter. We don't think there is going to be any more this long, unless something crucial is going to happen. So if you like long chapters, no need to thank us, but if you don't...well, too bad.**

 **Disclaimer: We still don't own the Percy Jackson or Harry Potter series, but we're working on it!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 **Monsters and madness**

"Orion, honey?" Kathy called out from downstairs, where she was manning five different bubbling pots on the stove. She waved her wand in a complicated pattern and muttered an incantation. The potion turned exactly the right colour it was supposed to. "Orion, can you come down here for a second?"

Loud music from upstairs quickly shut off, and footsteps sounded down the stairs. A moment later, a scrawny, pale, dark-haired boy came into view wearing a bathrobe and slippers. He had a pile of books in one hand and some pencils in the other.

"Yeah?" He asked, and he came and stood beside his mother.

Katherine frowned at him. "Why are you still not dressed? You are going to be late for school! Get the newspaper, I think I just heard the letter box."

Orion waved a lazy hand at his mother. "I'll be fine. Eew, I bet that tastes disgusting," he said, wrinkling his nose at the biggest pot of all. "Look, mom, I don't even need to go all the way to the front door to get the newspaper."

He put his hand up in the air and flicked his wrist. A second later, the newspaper flew towards him, and he caught it neatly before flourishing it towards his mother.

Katherine's frown softened, and she looked at him with a slight smile. "I told you not to do it anymore, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did. But I didn't listen, did I? Man, I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!" He exclaimed, hugging himself and almost bouncing with excitement,

"Well, you will be going soon, in about a year. Now get dressed, and hurry up or we're going to be late!" She swatted him with her wand.

Orion laughed and ducked, before racing back up the stairs. A few minutes later, a dressed and cleaned ten-year-old boy appeared once again at the base of the stairs. He grabbed a piece of toast, and shoved it into his mouth, spraying the kitchen floor with crumbs. He picked up his bag and gave his mother a little kiss on the cheek, almost covering her face with bread crumbs.

His mother shook her head, frowning at him.

"Hurry up and go, then. I need to go to St Mungo's to drop of these potions. Take the house key, I might not be here by the time you come home," she told him, reading the potion book propped open beside her.

"Yeah, okay." Orion said grabbing the keys, and racing out of the house to catch the bus.

As soon as he reached the bus stop, he was dismayed to see the bus just pulling out. Frowning slightly, he scanned the board to see when the next one would come. Fifteen minutes. _What?_ Oh god, he was going to be really late.

He took a shortcut, hoping to catch the bus, but he lost sight of it after about five minutes of furious running. Now what? He tried going back the way he came, but he must have taken a couple of wrong turns, because he was hopelessly lost. He spun around in a circle, but the same grey buildings stood everywhere. Not a single person was in sight. He started walking again, trying to stop himself from panicking- it wasn't the first time he got lost -but each one of those times there was at least someone around.

He decided to take a route through a dark alleyway. It was narrow but he could see light at the end of it. Yes, it was stupid idea, but he thought he thought the alley looked familiar. The ground was wet, garbage was scattered everywhere. He tried not to grimace at the sight of it all. Rats scurried around, and the putrid stench of wet garbage was everywhere.

He kept walking, his sneakers making a squelching sound on the ground. He heard some scuffling and coughs from a little further on, and from the gloom, an old man shuffled into view. He had an old fashioned picnic basket around his arm, and a walking stick in the other. Orion almost sobbed from relief, and he hurried over to the man.

"Excuse me?" He asked, from beside the man, who was walking so slowly that he didn't seem to move at all. The man kept walking on, almost as if Orion wasn't even there. He tried to keep from bumping into the man.

"I was wondering if you knew the way to the main street?" He asked, wondering if he was hard of hearing...and couldn't see.

The old man ignored him once again, and kept walking on, stopping every now and then to check his basket.

"Excuse me?" He called again, a little louder.

Several things happened at once. The man turned his head towards Orion with surprising speed, one eyes glowing blue and the other brown. He let out a lot animal-like snarl, and tossed the basket away from him. Orion took an uncertain step back, just as the old man started growing in size. Fur popped everywhere across his chest, just as his sweater vest ripped. His legs grew in size, until they were the size of tree trunks. Claws replaced his nails, and a couple of fangs popped into place. His face still remained the same, except he now had a grizzly mane.

But the most terrifying thing about this creature, was the tail. It was long and like a scorpion's, and several wicked looking darts were attached to one end, waiting to impale Orion.

Orion could not stop screaming. He wished and hoped someone would come and rescue him, but the alley stayed deserted. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with the dirt and grime, but he did nothing to wipe them away.

"You smell like death," the monster complained, in a surprisingly high voice. "I no like death!"

Orion had a split-second of relief, when he thought that maybe, all of this was a misunderstanding. Maybe the monster did not want to kill him after all. Maybe it was just lonely. Maybe it just wanted a cuddle. But all that changed when it shot three spikes at him with superb accuracy.

For the first time in his life, Orion was grateful for his ADHD. He jumped out of the way, landing in crouch. The spikes hit the wall opposite with a three loud _booms._ If he had still been standing there, he would have been a kebab by now. He tried not to think about it.

The creature gave a snort of frustration, before rearing up again to shoot him with spikes. He had no idea what was happening. He had never seen a creature like this in his mother's _Magical Creatures_ book, _what in Merlin's name was it?_ And why was it so focused on killing him? He was a nice, mostly innocent boy who had never seen this thing before, let alone offend it. It shot three more spikes at him, and started charging towards him at full speed.

Orion ducked to avoid the spikes which went down the alley and disappeared into the sunlight, no doubt killing some innocent dude on the street. The creature- a sphinx? -ran towards him, letting out fearsome growls and putting out its hands to grab him.

Just before it reached him, Orion used the slime from the ground and slipped down, between its outstretched legs. _What the hell?_ _How had he done that?_ It was almost as if his body was built for combat; he just sort of knew what to do. The creature, though large, was still clumsy, and it took several minutes for it to realize that Orion was actually behind it.

Orion used that split second to run, bounding towards the light at the end of the alley. The creature, when it realized that it had lost its prey, let out a loud bellow and began to shoot spikes at random. One almost hit the back of his head, and even when he ducked, it only just missed him. He could feel his hair singed and standing up on the top of his head.

The very same spike soared past, and hit the exact spot where one of the dustbins touched the brick wall. The momentum caused the bin to shoot forwards, right into the path of Orion. He tried to stop himself, but he was going way too fast, and the dustbin hit him with the full force of a car.

Pain shot through the whole of his body, as he slammed into the wall and slid down. His stomach hurt like mad, and he was pretty sure he had a cut across his forehead, judging by all the blood dripping into his eyes. He managed to weakly lift his hand, just as a dark shadow appeared in front of him.

The animal sneered at him unpleasantly as it advanced. Orion was trying extremely hard not to wet himself with fear. This was definitely the end of him. Why couldn't he have just waited for that stupid bus? And what the hell was this thing? He wished someone- anyone -would come and rescue him right now. It would be a bloody miracle.

And a bloody miracle it was, as a voice he despised floated its way towards him.

"Day? Is that you, Day?"

Orion's head turned so fast that he almost got whiplash, as he stared at the newcomer. He never actually thought he would be thankful for the day when he saw his arch nemesis Lucas Woods. The boy was staring back at him with wide eyes, and he held a flowery helmet in his hand, that caused Orion to snigger at. He was never going to let this go. He was going to hold this forever against Lucas for the Great Spaghetti Incident. Assuming that he survived today, that is.

The monster snarled at Lucas.

"Di Immortales! Out of all the devil's spawn, you just had to attract a manticore! Why not a hellhound or something?" he moaned. Orion stared at him with wide eyes. Here he was about to die and Lucas was complaining about a… a manicure?

Lucas leaped over the dustbin that had crashed into him and landed deftly on his feet. Only now, he had hooves. And furry hindquarters.

Orion almost passed out from shock. Lucas had goat legs. _Goat legs_. Like, his body was completely human, but his legs were all goaty. What the hell was happening today? He had to be dreaming. First, that manicure thing tries to impale him and insulted him, then his enemy from school turns into some weird hybrid goat-boy. _Wha_ t _on earth_?

Lucas raced past him and aimed a kick at the manticore's head with his hoof. But the manticore seemed to have anticipated his move, because he grabbed Lucas's goat feet and held it up in the air, dangling him menacingly.

Lucas's eyes widened and he let out a loud scream, as the manticore tossed him into the air. He landed in a heap in the corner, miraculously unhurt. His eyes looked strangely unfocused. Orion tried to stand up, his heart beating hard in his chest, but his ankle throbbed even with the smallest amount of pressure.

"DON'T JUST SIT THERE, DO SOMETHING!" came the angry yell.

Orion grew redder from frustration. Here he was, trying to make sure his leg didn't fall off, with an angry monster trying to eat him up, and Lucas screaming at him to do something. Well, Lucas might have not noticed, but he was bleeding. And his ankle hurt, while that stupid goat boy just sat there yelling at _him_ to do something. His anger, frustration and fear bubbled over his carefully constructed Occlumency shields, and his accidental magic exploded out of him.

A couple of glass panes beside Orion exploded in a rain of glass. Orion curled into the fetal position, and dragged his eyes shut to stop the glass pieces from piercing him. An angry roar caused him to unwillingly look up, to see the monster screaming loudly, several large and sharp looking glass pieces sticking out of his body. Orion winced with sympathy, even if it had tried to kill him, and with a final scream, the monster ran off limping.

The sudden silence was unnerving. Orion checked his arms, legs and face for any glass, but there was nothing. Glass pieces were everywhere, except for where he had been sitting. A circle marked the spot where he had probably created some sort of shield, completely free of glass.

"How did you do that?" Lucas asked him, wincing slightly as he pulled a glass piece out of his arm.

Orion frowned. What was he supposed to say? That he was a wizard? That his magic exploded out of him? Lucas would probably scoff, and then make fun of him for believing in magic. Best change the subject then.

"What _was_ that manicure thing?" he asked, politely looking anywhere other than those weird donkey legs.

"Not manicure, idiot, it was a manticore" Lucas told him with his trademark sneer, and then put his hand up when he started to protest against being insulted again.

"Look, I have said too much already. The more ignorant you are, the better...which is not going to be too difficult considering how stupid you already are." Lucas smirked. "We better get you home before the Council has my head for not protecting you. Why the bloody hell did you have to attract a manticore of all things?"

Orion scowled again, and opened his mouth to say that he didn't need protecting and that he was definitely not ignorant. Lucas made his unsteady way over to where he was sitting and yanked him up with surprising upper-body strength.

Orion bit back a scream as his ankle threatened to throb off his leg all together. The world swayed dangerously for a few moments, white spots dancing in front of his eyes. He stumbled, and Lucas only just managed to stop him from falling on the glass. After a few seconds of awkward maneuvering, Orion managed to walk a few steps forward, leaning heavily on Lucas.

"Of all the things you could injure, it just had to be your ankle, didn't it?" Lucas asked him, rolling his eyes.

"Well excuse me, but I just happened to be in a life or death situation," Orion's voice dripped with sarcasm, "So you will forgive me if I forgot to land on my wrist and sprain that instead".

Lucas scowled at the ground, but didn't say anything. An awkward silence settled between them. What _do_ you say after you enemy just saved your life, while also being part mule?

About a quarter of an hour of awkward silence later, Orion managed to recognize his surroundings at last, and the two of them limped towards Orion's house. How on earth had he gotten this far lost? The reached just in time to see Katherine open the door, dragging a huge bag of trash behind her.

"Mum!" he shouted, and ran towards her, forgetting for a moment that his leg was mangled. He stumbled, and fell face forward, and would have squished his nose if his mother had not broken his fall.

"What… What happened to you?" she gasped out, and struggled to lift Orion back to his feet.

"Some weird manicure thing-"

"Manticore!"

"Right...manticore attacked me. I swear, I didn't do anything to it! Really! It just attacked me in broad daylight! I think I'm hallucinating!"

Katherine's face grew more and more stricken with each word, her face going pale as though she had seen a ghost. She turned towards Lucas in panic, not even asking about his bizarre goat-legs.

"It's starting isn't it?" she whispered. "He said it would,"

Lucas gave her a quick nod, face somber. Katherine pulled herself to attention, and directed a sharp look towards Orion.

"You. Upstairs, now. Get changed, we're leaving." she ordered him.

"Wha...where? How? But most importantly, _why_?" Orion's eyes were the size of dinner plates, staring at his mother as though she had gone crazy.

"I'll explain in the car. Now go pack a small bag, I have a bigger one all ready for something like this. Only take what you absolutely need." she picked him up, half carrying and half dragging him inside. Lucas followed behind, and carefully shut the door.

The two of them went up the stairs, with Lucas hovered beside the sofa awkwardly. She kicked open the door of Orion's bedroom, a small, rectangular room painted dark blue with a black wardrobe in a corner. His bed took up most of the room, and it was the only obvious magical object in the house. The sheets were patterned with animated storm clouds, swirling, with occasional bursts of lightning. The bottom part showed a fire, also animated, and it would send up white, red and orange sparks into the storm clouds. Katherine set Orion carefully on the bed, and fixed his ankle with a simple incantation. She cleaned up his other minor injuries; the cut on his forehead, which was thankfully not deep enough to cause a concussion, bruises on his elbows and knees, and all the dirt and grime.

"There we go".

He experimentally wriggled his ankle and scrunched up his toes. The pain was gone completely. All that was left was a pleasant warmth. He scrutinized his feet with an expression of mild interest.

"You have to teach me that spell sometime."

Katherine gave a noncommittal grunt from his wardrobe, where she was shifting through his clothes.

"Pack up a small bag, honey, we will be travelling light. Don't forget your spare wand."

"But where are we going?"

A flash of irritation passed across Katherine's face. "I told you I would explain in the car, didn't I?" she snapped. "It's about your father. If you want to hear it, I would suggest you get ready as soon as possible."

And with that, she swept of the room, her head held high.

Orion sat on his bed, completely still. His father. He had been asking about him since he had learnt what a father was, but his mother would never answer. Usually, she changed the topic, or stared into space until he gave up asking. The only time she had ever mentioned him was when she had looked straight into his eyes and said "You have your father's eyes".

And finally, after asking for all these years, he was going to learn about him. He should have been feeling excited, but right now, he was dreading it. Mostly due to the fact that his father had something to do with a giant sphinx/manticore thing that wanted to eat him.

He comforted himself by picking up his spare wand, the warmth spreading through his fingers. He was never going anywhere with it ever again. In these dangerous times like these, with Voldemort lurking about who-knows-where, having a wand was crucial. Even if he was still only ten.

Picking up a bag from the bottom shelf of his cupboard, he slipped his wand into it. He packed a couple of books -mostly the ones he had bought from Diagon Alley- and his toothbrush. After a few moments of careful reasoning, he decided to also slip in Timothy, his stuffed tiger. Yes, it was kind of pathetic for a ten-year old to be having a _stuffed toy_ , but he had had it since he was a baby and had no intention of throwing it away. Once he had stuffed the bag till it was bursting, his eyes roamed his room until it rested on a picture next to his bed. How could he have forgotten it? The picture was his most prized possession. Three people stood in it, arm-in-arm, and all of them grinning happily. His grandmother stood in the extreme right, with Orion in the middle. His mother flanked his other side, and they were all laughing in delight. It was the very last remainder he had of his grandmother, so he carefully picked up the frame and placed it on top of his night clothes.

With that, he bounded back down the stairs to see Lucas and his mother heaving a suitcase into the trunk of their car. Lucas still had his bizarre legs, and it was freaky watching him as he moved around. Orion avoided looking at him as much as possible. He added his freshly packed bag on top of the suitcase, and all three of them bundled into the car.

The engine revved, and Orion turned in his seat to watch as his house as it grew smaller and smaller, all thoughts of school and homework flying out of his head and replaced with a growing sense of nervousness and excitement. He turned back towards the front as they took a turn and his house disappeared from view.

"So...is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?"

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	3. Call of Camp Half-Blood

**A/N: Well, this is it guys. Enter: Camp Half-Blood. Enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: The Percy Jackson and Harry Potter series are not in our greedy grasps yet. How disappointing.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 **Call of Camp Half-Blood**

" _So...is anyone going to tell me what the hell is going on?"_

Katherine and Lucas shared a long look from where they were sitting in the front. After what seemed like ages, Katherine gave out a long sigh, before beginning to speak.

"Orion, you must understand, they less you know the safer you are. At least, until you are under the protection of Camp Half-Blood"

"Well, being ignorant does not help, in case you didn't realize from today," he snapped. Then the second part of the sentence hit him. "Wait, Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yes" Katherine replied, but didn't elaborate.

"Yeah, man. It's a cool place. It's for people like you,"

 _People like him._ Orion leaned forward in his seat, "But I'm a pureblood, aren't I? So why am I going there?"

Katherine gave him a look through the mirror; a _shut up and stop talking before you do some serious damage look_. But it was already too late. Lucas was staring forwards with a pensive look on his face.

"Pureblood? What's that?"

Orion almost smacked his forehead. "Uh...it's nothing. So tell me about this Camp Half-Blood place." he asked eagerly.

"It's a place for people with special powers. A place for demigods" Lucas said.

"Demigods" Orion breathed out the word like it was a magic spell. "People like...Hercules and stuff? Like the Greek dudes?"

"Yeah, sort of like that," Lucas frowned. "And I wouldn't throw those names around like that. Some of those demigods happen to be gods these days,"

Gods? " _Gods_? Gods as in _The God_ or Gods as in Zeus and Poseidon and Thor?"

"Gods as in The Gods. And please, stop saying those names out loud," Lucas finished off with a nervous look at the sky.

"So what...I'm like...a demigod?"

Katherine looked at him in the front mirror with a sad smile. "Yes. You are. Your father was a god."

Orion was gob smacked. He sat there for a few minutes, just opening and closing his mouth without saying anything. His entire world had just been turned upside down, and he had no idea what to do. He was _the son_ of a god. One of the Gods.

"So...which God is it? Who is my father?"

Katherine frowned and opened her mouth to say something, before thinking better of it and closing it again. Lucas glanced at her, "Well, you won't really know that until you're claimed at Camp".

 _Claimed._ Orion didn't like the sound of that. It made him feel like and object, something that the gods could use. He stared out of the window, trying to make sense of things.

"So, if the gods are real, then...are all those Greek monsters and myths real too?"

Lucas looked around nervously, before turning towards him. "Yes, but let's not talk about it now. You're going to attract them."

"Attract them? Is...is that what I did today?"

"Yes, now shut up."

Orion subsided and slumped into his seat. The gods were real. His _father_ was one. And monsters were real too, and that manticore thing that had tried to kill him was probably one of them. Didn't all those demigod stories usually include monsters? Is that how his life was going to go about? Just going on quests and slaying monsters? All that sounded pretty heroic, but Orion preferred to live a nice, mostly normal life that included Hogwarts and magic. A life that most definitely did not include nine-foot mythical creatures wanting to eat him.

The rest of the journey went by in silence, apart from Lucas occasionally pointing the way. That was completely fine with Orion: more time for him to think and try to make sense of things. At first, he was mad at his mother for trying to hide these things, but didn't Lucas say something about ignorance being bliss? Something about the less Orion knew, the safer he was? It certainly felt that way now: he wished he didn't know all this. His future seemed more uncertain and dangerous this way.

"We're here," Lucas finally muttered. "Park it here, we will have to walk the rest of the way,"

Orion looked up eagerly to see if he could spot the camp, but a huge hill, covered with dense trees obstructed his view. He quickly unbuckled and clambered out of the car, Lucas and his mother not far behind him. It was a cloudless day, and Orion had to squint up at the hill to see it clearly.

"It's just over this hill, in the valley beyond," a voice behind him made him turn around. Lucas was looking around nervously, and helping his mother bring out the bags. Orion felt the hair at the back of his neck stand up; this place reeked of ancient magic...a sinister feeling.

"Come on," Lucas muttered, and started sprinting towards the hill. Orion and his mother shared a look, and both of them quickly followed him too.

About halfway through the woods, the two of them collapsed onto the ground, too exhausted to move. Lucas had it easy with his goat legs, leaping from one place to another and avoiding tree roots and ditches that otherwise managed to trip Orion. The stitch on his side threatened to take his breath away.

"Hurry up, we need to keep moving," Lucas frowned down at the two of them. Orion was too tired to come up with a snappy retort, and in a fit of desperation, Lucas grabbed both backpacks off them and strapped them over his own back. After a few moments of grumbling, they all set off again.

Both Orion and his mother, were sweating by the time they reached the top of the hill. Lucas wasn't even breathing heavily, even if he was carrying the bags. Orion put his hands on his knees and tried to bring back the feeling into his legs.

"Feast your eyes on this," Lucas said and waved his arms towards the valley beyond the hill.

Orion's eyes traveled upwards and his mouth fell open. A big open arch led to a whole camp. Twelve cabins were in rows, gleaming in the afternoon sun, each one of them decorated separately. A couple of huge farmhouses stood right in front of a huge area of strawberry fields, with lush, pink fruits that basked in the sun.

The three of them walked forward in a daze, almost as if the place was pulling them forwards. Orion couldn't believe this was a place that sometimes housed monsters...it was just so peaceful. He walked forwards with his mother right behind him, and when he passed a huge, gnarled pine tree, his stomach gave a weird lurch, almost as if he was passing some sort of magical boundary.

They next second there was a huge thump from right behind him, and he felt his mother's fingers slip from his. He turned around as quickly as he could, heart beating fast, imagining the worst. But he could see no mythical monster, merely his mother sitting on the floor, rubbing her arm where it looked like she had been stung.

"What? Lucas, stop. Something is wrong. My mother can't move forwards,"

Lucas turned around and frowned when he saw his mother on the floor. "It's the camp boundaries. You can't get into the camp unless you are a demi-god,"

"But...but...we can't leave her! There are monsters out there! She'll be killed!" Orion panicked at the thought and ran forwards. Maybe if he could undo the enchantments…

But the next moment, he too was thrown back and a huge lump had formed over the area where his head had made contact with the invisible shield. He quickly scrambled up when he heard his mother speak.

"It's...it's alright. I know the way back. Just...be safe for me, okay Orion?" her voice was slightly muffled as though he was hearing it from the end of a long tunnel.

"Yeah, I will." Orion replied, before his voice broke. "You be safe too"

"Don't worry, I will" she patted her sleeve where he knew she usually kept her wand. He knew she would be safe; it wasn't as if she was completely defenseless. But he still couldn't stop worrying as she gave a final wave and a smile and disappeared among the trees once more.

"Come on, Day. We better get you to the Big House," Lucas passed him one of the bags and the two of them set off once more.

Up close, the arc looked even bigger and somehow more daunting. Some Greek letters were carved into the tip, and somehow, he could make sense of them. Camp Half-Blood. They had arrived.

The moment they passed the arc, the entire place burst into sound. Orion jumped so badly he almost fell backwards, but Lucas merely walked on ahead. Orion hurried after him as he stared around in awe.

Right in front of them glittered a huge, blue lake, that was calm and still in the afternoon sun, surrounded by buildings. It was an entire Greek village built on the island. An amphitheater stood near the lake, the twelve buildings that he had seen before were there too, and in the distance, he saw vast, rolling strawberry fields that were being tended to by satyrs playing their flutes. There were campers everywhere, in orange t-shirts and carrying ancient weapons on their person. Campers were canoeing on the lake, playing volleyball in the sandy field and climbing walls with spikes and lava. He swore he even saw some of them riding winged horses. Lucas walked by, occasionally waving at someone, but otherwise completely uninterested in the wondrous sight in front of him.

Soon they had reached the huge barn house that Orion had spotted from the top of the hill. Two men sat on the porch around a table, playing cards. As they drew up closer, he realized that one of them was half-horse. A centaur. Honestly, he wasn't even surprised anymore: Greek mythology was messed up.

The other man had a small, graying beard on his chin and messy hair adorning his head. He wore a loud shirt, zebra print in purple and gold, and was drinking from a can of Coke.

"Got any fours?" he asked the centaur in front of him.

"Go fish,"

"Damn,"

"Sir? Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt what I am sure is an extremely important task, but I have a new half-blood with me. It's Orion Day, sir." Lucas said, taking a hesitant step forward.

Both men turned to gaze at Orion, who squirmed under their scrutiny.

"You're the kid who got attacked by that manticore?" the man in the zebra print shirt asked.

"How do you know about that?"

The man snorted at Orion's question. "Please kid, don't insult my intelligence. And you are to address me as sir, Mr. D or Dionysus at all times,"

Orion stared at him open mouthed. This was a god? This overweight, Coke-drinking, man was a god? The god of wine? He opened his mouth to ask it out loud, but Lucas seemed to have sensed his incredulity and quickly intervened.

"Please sir, we must give him an orientation and get him trained. We wouldn't want another one of us dying,"

" _Another one_? What do you mean _another one?_ "

"Not to worry, my child. I'm sure you will survive long enough," the centaur spoke, staring at him with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Dionysus sighed loudly. "I suppose we must." He turned in his chair as though looking for something, and he seemed to spot it a moment later. A girl of about Orion's height and build was walking by with a lollipop sticking out of her mouth.

"You there! Girl! Ida isn't it? Ida Greene? Come over here"

Ida turned towards him with a scowl. Her reddish-orange hair was tied up in a spunky ponytail, and she wore the traditional orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. Her eyes were pitch-black, and looked very odd against her pale-skin and freckles. She climbed up the stairs to the Big House, and stood with her hands in her pockets next to him.

"It's Ginger, sir. Everyone calls me that," she said sullenly.

"Do I look like I care? Besides, I have a job I need you to do,"

"Your wish is my command," she muttered mockingly, still scowling.

"Take that infernal sweet out of my mouth when you're speaking to me," She scowled once more, but obediently tucked it into her pocket. "I need you take Onion Day here- "

"It's Orion, sir"

"Whatever. I need you to take him and show him around. Make sure he at least gets trained in the basics. We don't want him to get seriously injured in Capture the Flag tomorrow,"

" _Seriously injured?"_ Orion asked, horrified.

"Yes sir. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Tell those Ares kids to stop beating up the Aphrodite campers. I'm tired of treating their injuries."

Ginger saluted him, before turning on her heel and grabbing Orion on her way out.

"It's nice to see that you're taking charge," he heard the centaur mutter.

"Zeus ordered me to. You there, satyr, you want to play too?"

Ginger half-dragged him until the Big House disappeared from view, and only then did she let go of his hand. As Orion tried to get blood circulating in it again, Ginger took out her lollipop, brushed the lint off and stuck it back in her mouth.

"Pain in the ass he is," she said, "Always getting my name wrong and drinking out of that stupid Coke can and being so bloody annoying,"

"But he is a god, isn't he?" Orion asked her. "Don't you think he should be respected?"

"He should earn it first, shouldn't he?"

Orion relapsed into silence, thinking over her words. Everyone at this Camp seemed pretty bad tempered. He will have to tread carefully from now onwards.

"So what is your real name?"

"I'm Ida Greene," she replied

"So he _did_ say your name right,"

"I know, that is the problem,"

This comment had the effect of silencing Orion once more. Clearly this girl hated her name, though he had no idea why. It was not as bad as Orion, was it?

"So...what should I call you then?" he asked her. Better make sure he didn't accidentally offend her.

"Ginger. Everyone calls me that. It's my middle name," she said.

Well, that settled it. This girl was clearly mad. Ida was not such a bad name, but _Ginger?_ And she preferred to be called that?

Orion contemplated the different oddities of this Camp as the two of them walked towards the cabins arranged in a U-shape. Ginger was being extremely helpful, and pointing out who and what to avoid, but Orion was only half listening. A very bad mistake, he was sure, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had more pressing matters to think about, namely whether his mother had reached home safely or not. He wondered how people contacted others at this place...he would have to ask later. For the hundredth time, he wished he had his own owl.

"So...these are the cabins. When you find out who your parent is, you will know which cabin you are going to belong in,"

Orion looked around in awe. They definitely were the oddest collection of houses he had seen. Each one of them was different; the biggest one in the middle was made with white marble. A red one stood nearby with a boar's head on top and filled with a bunch of tough-looking kids, who were shooting and wrestling with each other. Another girly one was there two, painted pale-blue, with a bunch of teens sitting on the porch and gossiping. The strangest one was definitely a brick-like cabin, with an assorted number of chimneys rising from it and emitting smoke. Clangs of metal and shouts were also heard from it.

"That one is mine," Ginger said, pointing to one that was the most cabin-looking out of all of them. "My dad is Hermes,"

She set of jogging towards it, and Orion quickly followed. The campers stared at him curiously, before turning towards their siblings to eagerly discuss who, what and where he was from. He heard snatches of conversation, mainly involving 'manticore'. How did word travel so fast around here?

"We better get you settled in," Ginger said as they neared it. "Come on, I'll talk to Marcus,"

Orion really hoped Marcus wasn't like Mr. D.

Marcus turned out to be a big, burly, blonde teen in an XXL Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. He was the kind of guy who Orion steered clear of, unless he wanted to be beaten into a pulp. Marcus sized him up and down for a long time without saying anything.

"Undetermined?" he finally asked Orion.

"What?"

"Yeah," Ginger told him. "He arrived today,"

"So you're the kid who got attacked by that manticore," Marcus's face took on a thoughtful expression. "I wonder if Ares...oh well," he seemed to rouse himself out of a daydream, "You can take the empty spot beside Greene."

"Is that your space?" Orion asked Ginger.

"Nope. It's my sister's."

"We better get you a sleeping bag and clothes and things too,"

"Don't worry about the clothes," Orion assured him, "I brought them with me. Lucas said he will drop by and give them later,"

"Excellent. I like good organization," Marcus grinned at him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Come on, let's get you settled in."

And he, Marcus and Ginger walked out into the dazzling sunlight, ready for anything the world could throw at them. He was finally home.

* * *

 **So, that's the end people. I know, this is merely a filler chapter, no monster attacks or anything, but we promise you, there will be one in the next chapter. And the ending was sort of abrupt, but me and Tee have a bunch of assignments we needed to finish for school. We were also feeling extremely lazy. So yeah. Sorry.**

 **Another thing I wanted to address was the fact that we have followed Orion's life from the attack. But not every single incident is going to be mentioned from now on, so don't worry, you will not have to read every single moment from Orion's next seven years. These were just the important bits.**

 **But still, keep the reviews coming!**


	4. Hellhounds and Hades

**I finally got the ' author's note section' from Kee. I have to say though, Kee does most of this story; after discussing the plotline, she goes off and actually writes the story. So good job.**

 _ **Thanks Tee. Really nice to know you appreciate me instead of just complaining.**_

 **Anyway, I really hope you are enjoying this story of ours. Please keep reading, gracias!**

 _ **For those who don't speak Spanish, it means thanks. Jeez, you are an international student Tee, be more considerate.**_

 **Disclaimer: Nope, we do not own the Harry Potter** _ **or**_ **the Percy Jackson series yet. Is their ever going to be any justice in this world?**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 **Hellhounds and Hades**

 _And Marcus, Ginger and he walked out into the dazzling sunlight, ready for anything the world could throw at them. He was finally home._

Over the next few weeks, Orion settled into a comfortable- if a somewhat strange routine. Every morning, the entire Hermes cabin would line up in the open area in front of the cabins. They would stand in order of decreasing seniority, so he always ended up dead last, right next to Ginger and her siblings. Turned out, she was the youngest of triplets.

Their cabin was definitely the most impressive out of all of them, mainly because of the fact that there were at least thirty of them, while the other cabins had only ten or fifteen kids. Within three days, Orion knew everyone's first name and last and could recognize them at sight. He thought that it was quite an impressive feat.

Then after a brief inspection of making sure everyone was present, they would all march towards the mess hall for breakfast. Chiron and Mr D never ate with them except for dinner, so breakfast time was always a disorganised mess. It was here that Orion had his first 'disagreement' with the Camp bully.

Orion was laughing along with the Greene triplets at the Hermes table on his second morning, simultaneously stuffing his face with toast. Ginger's siblings were absolutely hilarious, and their cheerfulness was infectious.

Ginger's sister was painfully shy, to the point where she couldn't even look at anyone in the eye without blushing. Every single thing about her was coy and sweet, from her name (Emily 'Almond' Greene), to her hair that was woven with daisies. She looked exactly like her sister, but while Ginger walked around in shorts and ragged t-shirts, Emily wore pretty skirts and flimsy tank tops. Orion often wondered how a monster would ever try to attack her, she was just too sweet. Of course this sweetness never stopped her from stealing stuff around the camp.

Ginger's brother, Maximus 'Noodle' Greene was so unlike his sisters that Orion couldn't believe even got along, let alone were siblings. Granted, he had Ginger's fearsome personality, but he looked nothing like her. He had shaggy, brown hair and eyes of the same colour. While his sister's faces were covered with freckles, his own were completely unblemished and unmarked, and they shone with unnatural perfection.

Maximus was under the tedious task of seeing how many pancakes he could balance on top of each other, cheered on by the rest of the table. He had reached an impressive figure of eighteen, and Orion had wisely removed himself from anywhere near the tower.

"Alright, you have got to be cheating!" Ginger burst out loudly after he managed to add another one on top.

"No, I'm not." he replied smugly, "You're just jealous."

Ginger let out a humorless laugh. "Jealous of what?" she jeered. "You're named Noodle of all things."

Max scowled, but further comments were prevented by the collapsing of the pancake tower, spraying the area with pancakes and syrup that was used to hold it together. As the rest of the table howled with laughter, Max lunged at Ginger with a cry of "this is all your fault!". A brief scuffle ensued which Orion watched with interest until a huge shadow loomed menacingly behind him.

Frowning slightly, he had turned around, only to meet the terrifying face of Aaron Sanders, sneering at him. He was big and bulky, with a crop of blond hair on his piggish face, and a reputation for scaring all newbies. Even the counselors avoided him, after he had landed one in the hospital tent for merely breathing too loudly. Just from one glance at him, Orion knew with a swooping feeling in his stomach, that they were not going to get along.

"Well, well, well." he had grinned when he saw Orion, "Looks like we have another loser for the loser cabin." Behind him, his two bodyguards guffawed mindlessly.

The entire Hermes table had stopped eating to look at Orion and Aaron, eyes moving from one to another like a tennis match. Orion knew what was going to happen next, he would either emerge victorious, or he would end up looking like a fool. The latter seemed more likely; Aaron was twice the size of him.

"Hello," Orion greeted him politely. He knew that he was severely lacking in the brawn department. Killing with kindness seemed to be the better option here. "I am Orion Day. Who are you?" he asked and stuck his hand out.

A flash of confusion passed across Aaron's face, even as Ginger stared at him disbelievingly. Before long the smirk was firmly back in place. "No thank you," he sneered. "I don't want to catch Loserphobia," The entire Ares table burst into loud jeering laughter. Orion rolled his eyes- what an idiot.

The laughter died down, and Aaron, unfortunately, focused his attention onto Orion once more.

"You know," he smirked, "we have a little initiation for noobs like you,"

His smile stretched bigger as he reached over grab Orion. His heart started to beat faster and jumped up to defend himself, but Ginger was too quick for him. She snapped out her dagger and pointed it at his chest. The entire hall went silent, eyes wide, staring at the Hermes table. Orion sat back down to finish his breakfast and enjoy the show, smiling slightly.

"That's enough." she said coldly, her eyes flashing in irritation. "Get back to your own table and compare your biceps or whatever you idiots do."

Aaron did not seem to hear anything that Ginger said, because the moment she spoke to him, his face cleared and his confident smile was back in place.

"Greene," he smirked, bowing his head in acknowledgement, "Looking beautiful as always."

Orion picked the wrong moment to drink a sip of his water. He choked loudly, and was awarded a glare from Ginger. Through water eyes, he saw her managing to evict Aaron and his two cronies back to their own table, before sitting down with an irritated expression.

"So," he smirked at her. "Looking beautiful as _always?_ "

"Shut up." she muttered back darkly.

The rest of the day would be passed doing various activities with the rest of the Hermes cabin. Ginger and her siblings were with Orion when they studied Ancient Greek. This was one of the very few things Orion was actually good at. In fact, he was so good at it that within three days, he could read Homer's work fluently without stumbling at all. Which was something that he actually seemed to be better at then Ginger. She struggled with even the simplest sentences. Once she translated _Hercules killed the hydra_ to _Hercules hugged the hydra._

"How the hell do you do that?" She demanded him as he translated a particularly long paragraph with the ease of someone older and wiser.

"Guess I'm just the son of Apollo or something." He grinned back at her.

Although he had meant that as a joke, he couldn't help wondering who his godly parent was. It was already a whole week, without a single word from the god side. And he understood that they were busy and all, trying to keep the world in running order, but how long did it take to send a signal? Could he not just send a letter or something to tell Orion who the hell he was? Was he doomed to wait forever like some of the kids in the Hermes cabin? He had seen them, lurking around at the back, depressed and out of sight because their parent still hadn't signaled anything. And other than Ancient Greek and sword fighting, Orion did not have any specific talents to connect with his father. It was frustrating.

Of course, if he knew what being claimed would have resulted in, he would have rather stayed undetermined.

* * *

On the Tuesday of his second week, there was nothing to show that something special might take place. As usual, he scraped a morsel of his dinner into the fire and prayed for his father to finally claim him. Sure, he loved the Hermes cabin, but he really wanted to find out who his father actually was, and who his step siblings might be. The wait was terrible.

After a hearty dinner consisting mainly of steaming Shepard's pie, all the campers gathered around the campfire feeling pleasantly drowsy. Ginger leaned against her brother Max as one of the Aphrodite campers- Jessie McCartney or something like that -leaned foward excitedly to share her horror story of the week.

"-and then, when she got to the ball, she realised that she was wearing a dress with- " here she stopped dramatically, "puffed sleeves!"

The Aphrodite kids shrieked in delighted horror, leaving everyone else tried to find out what the hell was wrong with them.

"That's the worst story that I have ever heard," Aaron rolled his eyes.

Ten different indignant eyes swiveled angrily towards him. The Aphrodite campers were quick to defend one of their own.

"Fine," one of them snapped, "You come up with something better."

That must have been exactly what he wanted to happen, because his face split into a smirk and stood up. Urged by his siblings, he opened his mouth to deliver what was sure to be a horrifying tale, but was interrupted by a howl in the distance.

Campers looked around furtively, eyes wide and frightened faces, as each one of them gripped their weapon silently.

"What was that?" Orion whispered to Ginger.

Ginger looked very grim. She had her dagger in her hand. "A monster. The woods are full of them. The question is, where is it now?"

"How do they not get in here all the time? Surely all these demigods' scent attract like a whole bunch of them?" he whispered to her once more.

Ginger let out a shuddering sigh and settled back down, still looking distinctly unnerved. She turned towards him, her eyes glittering slightly in the moonlight. "We have...defenses, of a kind." she answered. "The Athena and Ares cabin worked together- for once -to set up a trap system along the boundaries. They are effective, but not all the time. Sometimes...monsters manage to sneak past them and into the camp."

Orion frowned. "So, that's it? You don't have any other magical defenses? Nothing?"

Ginger shook her head sadly. "No. We used to have a dragon automaton, but he started malfunctioning slightly. The Hephaestus cabin are working on fixing him up right now. It should be ready by the end of this summer."

"You have a mechanical dragon?" Orion asked her in stunned disbelief, but further talk was interrupted by a disturbance in the bushes behind them

The trees near by shook. Red, glowing eyes could be seen from behind the bush. The bushes rustled once more and a huge dog appeared from behind.

It was as big as one those those monster trucks on TV. Sharps teeth protruded from its mouth. It snarled at the other campers. It's shaggy fur shifted as he got ready to pounce when it saw the campers rushing for their weapons.

"Campers!" Aaron barked. "Positions! As we trained!"

Everyone moved as one, dragging swords and daggers, and creating a defensive perimeter around the beast. Chiron galloped forward with his crossbow raised, ready to shoot if things went too out of hand, but the monster was content with raising its hackles and baring its teeth.

"It's just a hellhound," one of the campers scoffed. "How stupid can it get, a single hellhound attacking a camp full of trained demigods?"

Orion did not know how, but the hellhound seemed to understand what was just said. Without any warning, it leaped towards the camper with a snarl, who in turn, screamed loudly and held up his shield to protect himself. Chiron fired from his crossbow, an impressive feat considering that the hellhound was moving, and the arrow sped towards it.

The hellhound realised that the arrow was coming, and managed to twist in the air at the last moment to avoid it. The arrow, intended for its heart, hit its forelegs instead, and the hellhound fell to the ground with a loud howl.

Silence reigned around, broken only by the whimpering of the hellhound. No one dared to move a muscle, and all watched as it licked its wounds. It did not help the blood from gushing out, so it fixed its jaw around the arrow and tried to yank it out. After several moments of struggling it gave up and laid its head back on the ground, waiting for death to come.

Orion did not know why he was doing it, really. He took a step towards the hellhound. He heard several hisses of 'what is he doing?' and 'he's going to get himself killed!', but no one came forward to stop him. His stretched his hand outwards as he came closer

Eight metres away. Seven metres. Six, five, four... _closer...closer...he could feel the monster's hot breath on his fingers_

Orion heard a huge roar and turned only in time to see one of the Ares campers rush pass and lunge onto the huge dog. A bunch of other campers followed, slashing at the monster with their swords and spears. The dog howled, trying to shake the demigods off.

"Stop!" he cried out. "Stop, please! He's hurt! He's hurt, you're going to kill him!"

He ran up to the monster and dragged away as many fighting campers as he could. He yelled them to move, to leave the dog alone. But no one listened.

"Stop! Please!" he screamed tearfully.

Out of pure desperation, he lunged forwards and spread himself in front of the dog. He did not know what it was- perhaps they were surprised by him doing something so stupid -but everyone stopped moving at once. They stared at him in disbelief.

"You need to stop!" he gasped out. "He is hurt...help him! He's not doing anything, so why- "

He trailed off as he felt the dog nudge his back, realizing that everyone was staring not at him, but at something on top. He looked up to see a brightly glowing symbol, a mark of some sort, floating above his head. All around him, campers were scowling at him and whispering to their neighbors. They looked disgusted and terrified at the same time, staring at him as though seeing him in a new light.

"Wha-"

"It has been determined." Chiron's voice cut across the night. His eyes stared at Orion in confusion and curiosity. All around him, campers began kneeling, although a lot of them didn't look too happy about it.

"It has been determined." Chiron repeated. He too, bent his forelegs. "Hades, Ruler of the Underworld, Lord of the Dead, Father of Spirits. Hail, Orion Day, Son of the God of the Underworld."

* * *

 **WEEEEEEEE! Cliffhanger ending, always a classic. Sorry about that by the way. Also, this is Kee speaking. Yeah. Thanks for reading and all that tosh.**

 **Keep reviewing, thanks!**


	5. Curios and Capture-the-flag

**Nearly a year later, and we're back! Finally! No, we are not abandoning this story, no way. This is one that we actually plan to finish. Speaking of which, if anyone was wondering where we were (I don't think you care), we're in our final years of high school, which means that the ratio between our free time and the number of assignments we have is approximately 1:500. It does not excuse our absence, but…**

 **We do not know how often we will be able to update, so don't plan on getting a handy schedule. But, we do not plan to stop writing (yay) so thank you all for your patience and support.**

 **Disclaimer: You know the drill**

* * *

 **Curios and Capture-the-flag**

Orion kicked the edge of his drawers in frustration. All that resulted in was his watch slipping off the edge with a thud and a throbbing toe. He cursed loudly and flung himself onto the bunk, which creaked in protest.

 _Stupid, stupid campers_ , he thought to himself, _stupid campers and their stupid stereotypes._

It had been a whole month since he'd been claimed at that infamous campfire, and still people refused to talk to him. Sometimes, he wondered why he even tried. He was just one of those spirits, the one that flocked towards him whenever his feelings took over his thoughts. The ones that no one else saw. Yes, that described him _perfectly_.

'Um…Day?' came a timid voice from the entrance of the Hermes cabin.

'What?' he snapped. He immediately regretted his tone. Being irritable probably wasn't going to win him any points with the campers. He rolled over on his stomach to see whoever it was better.

A tiny boy stood in the doorway, feet turned inwards and twiddling his thumbs. Orion wracked his brains for a name. Timmy Tucker, Apollo cabin. Weird name, weird kid, but he was harmless. At least, from what he had seen so far.

'I came to say…everyone…that is, all the campers…they are gathering for capture the flag.' he said. He peered fearfully at him through his fringe.

Orion was touched. This kid, who he had never even spoken to, who he had just snapped at two seconds ago, actually cared enough to come and get him? Wow, maybe someone did care after all!

'Ginger asked me to get you.' Timmy continued.

Oh. That explained it then. Orion relapsed into his self-centered, self-pitying gloom.

'Tell her I'll be there in a second.' he sighed.

Pulling on his jacket, he wondered what it would be like this time. The last few capture-the-flags had been quite uneventful, with him always getting set upon by the Ares kids. The strong picking on the weak. He was really starting to hate Aaron.

When he reached the edge of the woods, everyone was there already, talking excitedly. Orion saw kids picking their choice of weapons. A couple of people stopped their conversations to stare at him as though he was some sort of alien. Orion pulled a face at them and then continued over to where Ginger sat on a log with the rest of the Hermes cabin, whittling on a piece of wood with her dagger. She gave him a small smile when he walked up. At least she was still his friend.

With a deep sigh, he looked at the weapons spread out in front of him. If he was going to get pulverized, might as well get it over and done with. Closing his eyes shut, he randomly thrust his hand into the pile at random and picked up the nearest hilt. From the very bottom of a pile, with a great clanking and clattering, came a gleaming bronze sword. It was so heavy that he nearly dropped it on his foot. Wonderful. He had a sword that didn't fit him.

The horn sounded and the campers ran into the forest with loud war whoops and yells, brandishing their weapons. Orion brought up the rear. The Hermes, Dionysus, Athena and Hephaestus cabins regrouped together near the famous poop pile rock and drove their flag into the ground

'All right, gang!' Marcus yelled out as campers formed a crescent shape around him. He walked up and down, looking alarmingly like a drill sergeant. 'Athena and Dionysus cabins- you're on attacking duty. Hephaestus, defend the flag.' The Athena cabin looked particularly grumpy, giving up their leadership to Marcus, but they remained quiet.

The Hephaestus cabin saluted him mockingly.

"Hermes, take out the opponents. Play dirty if you have to, but I want no complaints.' Orion's mind wandered to the full blown-out war that had erupted between the Apollo and Hermes cabins a few weeks back. Ginger could only speak in haikus for a whole week.

' _Please pass the butter_

 _Shut your dumb mouth Orion_

 _I will murder you'_

The thought of it brought a small smile to his face.

The flag was raised and the horn sounded. Orion's team scattered. Ginger and her siblings went one way and Orion went the other.

The woods were unusually quiet that afternoon. There was no chatter from the dryads, nor were there any birds chirping. Must have been the sound of the conch that chased them away.

Orion hurried his pace. This place was unnerving him. Every so often, he thought he heard footsteps behind him but each time he turned around, he saw no one. Strange. This was how horror movies began, didn't they? And, where was the other team? He'd been walking for nearly twenty minutes, he should have at least seen signs of them. Orion quickened his pace.

Now that he'd noticed, the trees around here were slightly burnt. Branches were singed at the ends and bits of burnt leaves were gathered on the floor. _What the hell?_ He moved closer to one pile and hesitantly touched it. It was still slightly warm, and his fingers came out gray with ash.

Something had been here. Something that could breathe fire.

Orion stumbled backwards and onto his feet. He turned, ready to run back and warn the others, when he nearly jumped out of skin.

Aaron and his hulking minions stood smirking in front of him in full battle armor and huge spears in their hands. Aaron's spear cracked menacingly and Orion realized, with his heart hammering in his chest, that it was electric. When did he get that?

'Ready for the usual pounding, Ghost Boy?' Aaron grinned.

Orion's heart sank. 'Aaron...Aaron, there really is no time for this now. We need to see Chiron, something is in these woods.' He tried to move past them, but they shoved him back in place.

Aaron shifted his spear from one hand to the other. He seemed to be paying no attention to what Orion was trying to say. 'I seem to have noticed you have been spending a lot of time with Ginger. More than what I'm okay with.' His eyes snapped up to meet Orion's.

Orion stared at him. Seriously? Why now? 'Stop being an idiot. Move, I need to get to Chiron'

Aaron's face twisted with anger. 'Who you calling an idiot? I will pound you into demigod chowder, kid.'

'Look at that!' Orion yelled in desperation, pointing towards the pile of ash, 'Look around you, Aaron, something… some kind of monster is nearby. We've got to- '

Aaron raised his spear and jammed it towards Orion.

If it was not for Orion's lightning quick reflexes, Aaron's predictions would have been true. As it was, Orion barely managed to duck out of the way as the spear passed above his head. He could feel the energy rolling off it in waves. Orion aimed a swipe at a random pair of feet- he no longer cared if he hurt Aaron or his minions -and took off running in the opposite direction. From the loud howl that followed, he knew that he had gotten at least one of them.

His heart pounded to match his feet. With an unbalanced sword, he had no chance of being able to fight back, let alone get past them. Why? Why did everything have to happen to him? And on top of that, there was some unknown fire-breathing monster nearby and he had no way of contacting the others.

Footsteps raced behind him. They were giving chase, and with his own short legs, Orion had no chance of outrunning them. He ran anyway, neither knowing nor caring where the path took him. Branches scraped at his skin and twigs got stuck in his hair, and still he ran on.

And of course, the clichéd 'trip-over-something-during-a-chase' trope had to make an entrance.

Orion managed to pull it off spectacularly. He tripped over a tree root so hard that it snapped in half as he seemed to fall in slow-motion. His momentary confusion was soon taken over by blinding, searing pain as he fell flat on his face. Hot liquid trickled down his chin and dripped onto the ground as he turned over on his back with a groan.

Footsteps. They had caught up with him. Aaron's scowling face came into view with one of his cronies behind him. Orion lifted up his sword to defend himself, but Aaron parred it with his own spear and flicked it out of the way. It went flying into the air and fell uselessly into the bushes. Aaron thrust his spear forward. Orion scrambled backwards.

Before he could do anything other than shout, one of his minions picked him up, holding him by his legs, so that he was upside down. Aaron came forward with his electric spear. Orion closed his eyes, and for the first time in his life, he went to his dad for help.

 _Do something, Hade- Dad,_ he begged in his mind, _Please. Anything._

The ground cracked. Large fissures erupted. The cracks spread across the entire clearing, and underneath him, was the largest fissure of all, about a meter wide crack of all. All three of them jumped backwards in alarm. Unfortunately, the guy carrying Orion upside down seemed to have a surprisingly good hold, and his head scraped against the ground painfully.

'What are you doing, you little freak?' Aaron snarled.

'I don't… I don't know,' he replied, yelling to make himself heard over the crackling noises that were beginning to erupt from the fissures. 'I can't- '

And from the fissures erupted a gleaming ring, right under Orion's right arm. The others were so busy yelling and trying to keep their balance that Orion was able to pick it up without anyone noticing.

 _Why on earth would his father give him a ring?_

Just as this thought entered his head, the ring twisted and morphed before his own eyes. It shifted into a gleaming sword, just the perfect fit for his hand and perfectly balanced.

Orion stared at in a mixture of awe and disbelief. The sword shone with an unearthly brightness; it looked nothing like the other celestial bronze weapons he had seen. In fact, it seemed to be made of a different metal altogether...iron, maybe, or silver.

Then the reality of his situation seemed to strike him. He had a sword, one that was perfect for him. Aaron and the others were dazed and disoriented. In one swift, stroke, he swiped at the kid holding him, who dropped him with a loud howl. Orion ducked and jabbed randomly with the hilt- he was not here to kill- and from the scream that followed, he knew he had injured Aaron. He scrambled back up to his feet and ran.

Loud shouts and laughter sounded from in front of him. Orion burst into the poop pile clearing, and his heart sank for the second time that day. The Apollo cabin had captured their flag, and were running full pelt towards the boundary line. Nearly the entire Hermes cabin were hot on their heels.

Orion ran after them.

There was a whooshing sounds and the clinking and clattering of metal from somewhere to his right. Orion slowed down, his gaze focused on the small clump of bushes that were beginning to part.

Something large and gold charge out, into the clearing. Orion just had time to yell out a warning, and he ducked. The thing ran straight towards the rest of the campers with a loud roar, gleaming so brightly in the afternoon sun that it nearly blinded him.

Screaming. Roars and mechanical whirls. The crackling of wood. That was all Orion heard as campers rushed around. He stumbled back up onto his feet, eyes watering. From what, he did not know.

The forest blazed around him and in the middle of it all, a huge, golden, _mechanical_ dragon stomped. Even as he watched, the dragon breathed out another fireball at the campers. They jumped out of the way, but he saw it graze several of them.

Orion ran forwards, his sword ready in his arms. Out of nowhere, a ball of orange came flying into him, knocking him onto the ground.

He put up his arms to defend himself, heart beating fast, before realizing that Ginger had knocked right into him. She turned towards him and her eyes were as wild as the fire around him.

"Are you crazy!? Do you want to be burned alive?" Orion looked at her before glancing to the spot he had been standing just seconds before. The grass was charred black.

'That's a stupid question,' he replied, but she was already gone. No doubt scaring the living daylights of some other poor camper.

Aaron came rushing out of the woods behind him, sword ready at hand. His face was covered with soot. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat of his face.

'Formation!' he screamed, finally taking charge among the chaos. 'Everyone get into formation!'

Orion was pushed into a crowd of demigods, and found himself next to Emily, who had tears running down her face. 'It'll be alright,' he whispered to her, but his words were lost in the screams as campers pushed and shoved. Thrust into a haphazard formation, everyone around him raised their weapons and shields and pointed them towards the sky. Orion copied them with his new one.

The woods seemed to descend into an eerie silence as everyone held their breaths in anticipation. The woods crackled around the clearing; the sounds of the tree nymphs reached his ears, screaming and wailing as they were burnt to the ground. Campers lay around on the ground, their flesh shriveled and black. A little kid, no bigger than eight or nine, lay nearby, eyes cold and glazed. Orion could feel a tugging at his heart, and then a sort of sick feeling that threatened to overtake every inch of his body and leave him numb and paralyzed. It was like nothing he had ever felt before.

How on earth were they going to fight a giant dragon _that breathed fire?_

'Incoming,' someone shouted.

The automaton clanked out of the woods again, heat radiating out of it in waves. A series of whirring and clicks followed, and it stepped out into the sunlight.

Despite the fact that it was a rabid killing machine, Orion had to admire the sheer beauty of it. Fifty tonnes of celestial bronze and gold, skillfully blended together to create a shell, claws the size of a tree branch and glowing red rubies for eyes. The sun reflected on its scales, making it glitter and shimmer.

The dragon raised its head. The campers tightened their group, Chiron with his crossbow up in the lead.

The next thing that happened was something that Orion could only equate to a small bomb going off. The dragon fumed out another fireball, and even behind a cover of giant metal and celestial bronze shields, he could feel the heat. It was like being thrown into a furnace. In a volcano. In the heart of Tartarus.

The flames cleared and the demigods rose, coughing and rubbing their watery eyes. One look at the state of their shields said all. The outside had melted and dissolved, little flakes of metal peeling right out. There was no way it would be able to withstand another blow of fire. And so, when the dragon readied itself again, they did the one thing that they knew how to do very well.

They scattered.

* * *

Returning back to camp, Orion was met with more shouting and people running around. The Apollo cabin had their hands full with various injuries and burns, ranging from small cuts and scrapes to second-degree burns. Huge boxes of ambrosia was carried into the camp's sick bay, which was more crowded than the camp bathrooms on Mexican food day.

Orion swallowed thickly and carried on walking. No doubt this was going to haunt his nightmares for a long time to come. He thanked his lucky stars that the worst thing to happen to him that day was emotional trauma. The sick feeling in his stomach had returned with full force.

He soon found himself in the amphitheater, where a large group was gathered around the campfire. Chiron stood in front of them, looking haggard with a clipboard in his hands. Orion's eyes travelled to the handful sitting on the seats; some girls from the Demeter cabin comforting a sobbing girl, other campers handing out Band-Aids and kind words. Someone thrust a pack of Band-Aids into his arm and he gratefully slapped one on the cut on his head, not bothering to clean off the blood. A mop of bright orange hair caught his eyes.

'Ginger,' he breathed in relief. 'You're alright.'

Ginger didn't smile back at him. 'Fifteen people are still missing, Orion,' she said. "Fifteen! And… and to think, that it could have been you, or my stupid brother or Emily...'

Orion swallowed. The sounds of the screaming nymphs still rung in his ears, making his head throb. To think… to think that some campers were still going through that while the rest of them were safe? The sick feeling in his stomach returned.

'Are they sending out patrols?' he asked, shakily.

Ginger gave a bitter laugh. 'Patrols? You think Chiron and Mr. D are going to let people into the woods after this? The forest is literally on fire, Orion. People are trying to put it out as we speak. And you want to go back in there?'

Orion stared at her, aghast. 'But fifteen people, Ginger! Fifteen! At least some of them will be alive, shouldn't we go and help them? They could be very badly hurt, or… or maybe even dying.' As soon as he said it, he knew it was no use. Everyone in the woods were either dead already or close to it. He just… he just could somehow tell. But he carried on protesting anyway. 'If it was Noodle or Emily in there, you would've gone after them, right?'

Ginger turned away from him, and Orion thought that he might have finally reduced her to tears. 'Forget about it,' she said, and her voice shook like his. 'Bring it up with Chiron, but you already know what he is going to say. This is not a like in the movies, Orion. People can't be that heroic in real life. They die too easily.'

'So you're just giving up?'

'Don't you get it?' she yelled, turning back around to face him. 'That was the dragon the Hephaestus cabin made to _protect_ us!'

* * *

 **Your reviews are much appreciated through these tough times of finals and assignments.**


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